From ESPN:
In a tearful news conference on Sept. 10, Pearl acknowledged that he had given investigators false information when asked about a cookout at his home attended by high school juniors. Pearl was charged with unethical conduct by the NCAA for misleading investigators and the NCAA has since charged the Tennessee basketball and football programs with a dozen violations.
However, failing to notify Tennessee of another possible recruiting violation that occurred just four days after the tearful news conference may have ultimately caused Pearl to lose the support of his bosses.
From the Montgomery newspaper
AUBURN – Bruce Pearl is still refusing to interview with Auburn officials and university legal counsel.
By declining requests to interview with university counsel and the law firm of Lightfoot, Franklin & White of Birmingham, Auburn officials contend the investigation can't be concluded and also has held up the eligibility reinstatement of inactive players Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy.
“If he’s running a clean program and hasn’t done anything wrong, why won’t he talk?” the source told the
Montgomery Advertiser on the condition of anonymity. “The responsibility is to the school and a athletics department and not just to a coach and his program.”
From the Charleston Post Courier:
Where there is Bruce Pearl smoke, there is typically fire. His brushes with controversy started well before Tennessee. Pearl, while an assistant coach at Iowa in 1989, taped his phone conversation with high-profile recruit Deon Thomas, in which he got Thomas to say he received $80,000 to flip from Iowa to Illinois.
The better question is, why isn't he scum? Or perhaps, why does Auburn continue its tradition of running and preferring a scummy athletic program? Why does the lame NCAA turn a blind eye? Why does the NCAA threaten us for parking tickets when others are committing murder and being rewarded for it?
Maybe you are correct. Auburn, Pearl and the NCAA are a perfect marriage. If you like low lifes.